Do I deserve a raise? - 3 years with employer no raise?

Question

I am a technical recruiter working in Pittsburgh PA.

I began working in June 2004 for a small privatley owned company.

I was offered the position at 23,000 base plus 8% commission on placements of FTE and contractors.

3 months later I received a 2% hike in commssion for a total of 10% commission.

Since then I have made over 60 placements for the organization.

I feel that I contribute to the profitablilty of the company and I am due a raise (in base salary) at least for the cost of living hike.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I should go about this?

Answer 1

First you should probably find out who is in charge of the raises - Your immediate supervisor or the HR people. Determine what it is that you think you deserve - either a higher commission or a higher base salary - with a dollar amount/% amount.

Make an appointment to discuss it with the person in charge. Send them a quick email or call them and ask when is a good time to discuss your compensation. During the meeting, point out all of the contributions you have made to the company (as you already have listed above), and that since three months after you were hired, there have not been any adjustments to your base/commission.

Tell them that you enjoy working for the company, and hope that they see you as a valuable employee. Then tell them what you expect to be earning, with your experience and track record. Up your $/% more than what you really want to give them a little wiggle room.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I would say just walk in to whoever decides those things and ask for a raise. They know that you can go somewhere else. With commission jobs though, raises are few and far between, because your 'raise' is covered by the higher commission you are getting due to the fact that you are getting better at the job. If you don't get better at the job, then you don't get any more money, and the company doesn't take a hit by having to pay more for the same amount of work.

Answer 3

Raises are at their discretion. I worked for the same company for 5 years and didn't get a raise. They said there was no money for raises. My husband gets a pitiful raise every year and it doesn't even cover the cost of inflation going up.

Perhaps your company thinks you should earn more money by placing more people and thereby upping the amount of commission you bring in.

If you want a raise in your base salary then you'll have to go to the HR dept or person in charge of that and state your case to them. Be prepared to be refused and if you give an ultimatum then be prepared to back it up.

Answer 4

You definetly deserve a raise. You have been working too hard and by paying you the same he has been acting like a freeloader and should give you a raise. You should ask him for a raise and if he wont give you one that job isnt worth it and you should first try to find a job that would pay better and then quit your current job.

Answer 5

Does this company do annual reviews? That is when raises are usually given. If they do not, then you might want to ask your boss about their salary review process. You do deserve a raise, and it looks like it is going to have to be you to bring it up.

Answer 6

Yeah! You are getting screwed. Call a recruiter ... oh, wait! You don't have to!